Three's a Crowd
by Amber Krueger
Summary: Amber is the Devil's newest bounty hunter for escaped souls... and so far she's gotten used to the whole "I work for the Devil" deal; but now the Devil has something in mind for her sister, Aubrie. What could it be? R&R, sequel to Two's a Crowd!
1. Idle Hands

Amber sat cross-legged on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV. All the lights in the house were off, and thunder clapped every now and again, along with a flash of lightning that she could see outside the window beside the TV set. She sighed in disgust. Nothing appeared to interest her.

Rolling her eyes, she shut the TV off, and sat in the fairly dark room. It was 7:20 PM, the sun was already setting, but hidden behind the heavy storm clouds that hovered in the dimming sky. She pushed herself back into the cushion that propped her up on the couch, and exhaled as she gazed up at the ceiling.

"Bored?" The Devil appeared next to her, mimicking the position she was in on the sofa.

Amber shifted her head to face him, not surprised to find him there. "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop, I suppose?" She snickered, humoring herself. He only smiled in response.

"I'm guessing you have another soul you want me to catch."

"Actually, no. Like you just said, 'Idle hands are the Devil's workshop'…" His smile widened as he spoke. Amber sat up, and turned to face him, her legs still folded beneath her.

"I have something I want you to do for me." The Devil added, his head turned to face her, still laying back.

Amber furrowed her brow, as she thought, _What the hell does he want me to do, now? _

"Oh nothing that involves much effort." Satan smirked, locking his fingers and resting his hands on his lap.

"Really." Amber expected him to respond to her thoughts… _I guess nothing is private anymore._

She got up and scuffed her feet over the carpet as she made her way into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a chocolate pudding cup, followed by a plastic spoon that she grabbed from the many that grouped together in a small plastic cup on the counter.

"I'll just take a shot in the dark here, and assume you don't want one, right?" Amber held up the pudding cup, over the bar, towards him.

"Hey, last time I checked, I'm not on a diet." The Devil said, and held out his arm, over the back of the couch.

Amber rolled her eyes again, and tossed the pudding cup to him. "Nice arm! Ever play baseball?" He reached out with his other hand as Amber threw him a spoon.

"Not in a team, just with a friend, once or twice." She replied, getting herself a pudding cup and spoon, then jogging back into the living room.

She jumped back onto the couch, next to him, where she sat before, and crossed her legs again.

"Yeah, he always hit you in the face with the ball." The Devil began to laugh as he opened the pudding cup and shoveled the spoon into it. Amber stared at him, speechless for a minute. "STALKER!" She leaned forward and shoved him with just enough pressure to make him rock towards the edge of the chair. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah that's right, I pushed you." Amber sneered, wrinkling her nose at him, before tugging at the tab on her pudding.

"I haven't thought about that in a long time… bastard." She mumbled to herself, remembering blocked out memories from her childhood.

_I'd like to see him get a ball in the face… _

A large toothy grin appeared on the Devil's face.

"How cliché. Honestly, you think I didn't notice? Bringing back bad memories… really, are you running out of ideas?"

Amber spooned a towering scoop of pudding into her mouth.

"Well, it's kind of funny, really." The Devil began, his smile never fading.

"Little ol' Tommy is here in town… and-"

"WHAT?" Amber almost spewed pudding from her mouth. "You know… you can't… why?"

He started to laugh. "Hey, I didn't have anything to do with it. Fate is just fate." He looked up to the ceiling and back to face her.

"Prick." Amber mumbled, setting her pudding cup onto the coffee table. She suddenly lost her appetite.

"Who me?" Satan looked at her in a matter of disgust. "I didn't do it, don't blame me, blame him." He pointing his finger upwards.

She looked at him; "I was calling him a prick too. Don't feel special."

Just as Amber said that, a loud thunder clapped, and a bright flash of lightning lit up her whole house. When she turned to look at the Devil, he was gone. As usual.

"Don't even bother telling me why Tom's here…" She rolled her eyes as she got up to turn the light on.

When she turned back around for the couch, the Devil sat in the same place he did before.

Amber jumped in surprise. He usually didn't come back like that, she didn't expect it.

He sat there smiling. "Where did you go?" She frowned.

"Oh, I just went to the kitchen to throw away the empty container." He shrugged, still grinning.

"You have to stop doing that. It's getting creepy."

"Good. Glad to know what finally freaks you out." The Devil chuckled.

"Oh, you don't freak me out. It's just the way you act sometimes… you're just so damn clingy!" Amber laughed.

"You know, I bet I'm the first person you've met who isn't afraid of you. Don't you find that weird?" She added. "You put me in Hell, and I still ended up calling you a prick." A smile spread across her face.

"Fools tread where angels fear to go." The Devil raised both eyebrows at her and shook his finger.

_Arrogant bastard. _

Amber sighed gruffly.

"So why is Tom here… and why did you even bother telling me?"

"Well, because him and I made a deal… in exchange for his soul, he'd get to see you once more before he dies." The Devil smirked.

Amber grimaced at the thought of being around Tom again.

_Why the fuck does he want to see me again? One last baseball in the face before he gets dragged into Hell? _

"It didn't matter that he sold his soul to me anyway. He was already going to Hell… but I was in a good mood, and incase he ever thought of repenting… I thought I'd seal the deal." He was full of himself, as always.

"Good. I hope he burns. But I'm not going to see him. I might end up shooting him in the head." Amber said, that last part more than likely sarcasm.

"Hey, hey! I have to keep my end of the bargain, or he keeps his soul. Plus, you have to see him within this week. He'll be dead on Tuesday. Tragic car accident. Tsk, tsk. Those darn drunk drivers."

"So what? You said he's already going to Hell. It's not like he's going to ask Mr. Goody-two-shoes up there, for forgiveness before Tuesday."

"Ah, but see the problem is… what if he does?"

"Oh you're so negative." Amber scoffed, pulling her long sleeves over her hands.

The Devil leaned in, so that he was only a few inches from her face. They locked eyes and he frowned. "You are going to see him this week, whether you like it or not. I'm not putting my good name in jeopardy just for your selfish comfort."

Amber backed away from him. "Number one, you don't have a good name, and number two, GET A BREATH MINT! For the love of my lungs, brush your teeth or something! Jeez."

Satan squinted his eyes, until they were just a glinting sparkle under the living room light. His frown didn't cease.

Amber could tell she was pissing him off. She had an urge to continue her pestering at him, but her common sense got the best of her. She nodded and sighed again.

"Just give me the time and date, and I'll be there. But all he does is SEE me! That was the deal and we're keeping to specifics here, understand?"

Just as she finished, the Devil had again, disappeared. This time, he wasn't coming back until he felt like it.


	2. Getting Ready

Sock sat in the break room, his feet crossed on the table, pushing the chair against the lockers, tilting backwards, as he played a video game on his PSP.

"No! No! No!" He cried, shaking the PSP, and rapidly thumbing the buttons.

"_Game over." _Said a robotic male voice from the game. Sock huffed in impatience, and threw the PSP across the table. Sam walked in, sighing as he dropped his apron onto the floor. "Ugh. My shoulder." He grasped his right hand on his left shoulder and massaged it.

"What happened?" Sock sat up, causing the chair to fall forward back onto it's two front legs.

"The stupid soul last night really got to me. I'm all sore and my shoulder is dislocated I think." Sam sat down roughly, letting out another heavy sigh.

"Hey, have you seen Ben, today?" Sam asked, grimacing as he squeezed his shoulder.

"No. He's home sick. Probably with some stomach _influenza _or something that sounds epic like that." Sock blew raspberry with his lips, making a sound like a boat engine.

Sam just nodded.

"Ted needs to lighten up on me. Lately he's been pushing me to work longer hours and everything I do isn't right. I don't need this on top of everything else." He exhaled, exaggerating the sound.

Sock laughed. "Maybe he has a crush on you Sammy. Playing hard to get." He giggled at his own joke, wheezing with laughter.

Sam weakly guffawed, his shoulder holding him back with the pain.

"Yeah, maybe. I think he's still wearing that scarf Josie gave him."

"He really needs to get laid. So do you. Have you and Andi…?" Sock raised his brow up and down and grinned.

Sam shrugged it off. "Eh…"

"Hey how about you and ol' Satan, there? I bet he's clingy for a reason…" Sock let out a loud, piercing laughter, along with a series of wheezes.

Sam furrowed his brow and made a face of disgust. "What? Ew! Gross. You're twisted, but probably right." He shuddered at the thought of it.

Soon night fell, and it turned out to be a pretty normal night for everyone. Sam went to bed, slept on his right side instead of his left, avoiding anymore pain from his shoulder. Amber fell asleep, eventually. Her mind filled with memories from her past, and worries about what could happen when she sees Tom, for the first time in years. Ben puked his guts out every hour of the night, up until 6 in the morning, when the virus finally let up. Sock continued to play at the video game on his PSP, and continued to lose.

The next morning, Amber turned on her right side and grabbed hold of what she _thought _was her pillow, and hugged it tight.

"Was it good for you?"

The Devil said, laying next to Amber in bed, startling her awake. She woke up to find herself hugging on his arm, and immediately jumped, falling off the other side of the bed, letting out a quiet shriek.

She jumped to her feet, and stared at him, her eyes bugging out.

"What did you say?" The expression of pure shock on her face was priceless.

"I said, "was it good for you?" because it was good for me." Satan smiled wide, letting out a hearty laugh as he sat up.

Amber screamed and grabbed a pillow, throwing it at him.

"You fuck!" She beat him with the pillow.

"Hey, hey! Stop! Come on, can't you take a little joke?" He said, still laughing, almost until tears stung his eyes.

Amber finally tossed the pillow back to the bed.

"I am scarred for life." She pulled at her hair.

"That's what I do best." The Devil continued to laugh as he stood in front of her.

She looked to her alarm clock, and it read 10:20 AM. She usually awoke at this time on the weekends anyway, so she didn't lose any sleep thanks to the Devil's remark, (but more than likely will later on).

"What do you want?" Amber sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I'm just here to give you the time when you're going to meet Tom."

_Oh shit. That's right. I have to go see Tom… damn it. He had to remind me. Why can't he just forget things, like every other old fart out there?_

"Fine." Amber huffed.

The Devil handed her a small piece of paper with a time and place written on it in fancy cursive handwriting.

Amber read it out loud; "Strickly Mall, 5:12 PM, Saturday."

_That's today. _

"Now, before you go, I want you to make it casual. I don't want him knowing that you know me. That would complicate things… and I don't need things to get complicated." The Devil explained.

Amber stuffed the paper into her bra, under her green Tasmanian Devil (Taz from Looney Toons) T-shirt.

"Ok. Whatever you say _boss." _She saluted him with her sarcasm, and sneered.

The Devil grinned.

"Good, good." He pointed at her alarm clock, and suddenly it went off. Blaring loudly.

Amber turned to look, and when she looked back he was gone.

"You and your fancy entrances and exits." She scoffed.

_I need a new pair of shoes anyway… _Amber thought whilst looking down, beside her bed, at her worn and tattered sneakers. She snorted and flopped backward onto the bed, stretching and yawning before getting back up to get herself ready.

Aubrie was still asleep when her ring tone started, a MIDI of Nickelback's "Rockstar".

She groaned and grumbled, shifted her head on the pillow, to face her phone that sat on her nightstand. Aimlessly, she flailed her arm until it fell upon the phone. She dragged it off of the nightstand and pulled it to her ear, where she flipped it open without looking at the caller ID first, as she usually did (ever since Amber had prank called her continuously by blocking her number and breathing heavily into the receiver).

Aubrie mumbled "hello" without moving her lips.

"_Hey, get up. I'm picking you up, we're going to the mall." _Amber said on the other end of the line. Aubrie blinked once or twice, before kicking off her covers and turning onto her backside.

"Hmm" She said in response to her sister, yawning right after.

"_Get dressed. I'm on my way." _Amber, as always, hung up without notice.

Aubrie moaned loudly, scooting herself to the edge of the bed with her feet. Too lazy to sit up. Without realizing it, she had moved to close to the end and fell off. That surely got her attention, waking her up.

Amber pulled her oversized nightshirt over her head and tossed it to the other side of the room, before digging into a mixed pile of dirty and clean clothes. She pulled out a black T-shirt by the sleeve. It was inside-out, so she couldn't tell which one it was. She pulled the trim of the bottom through the neck hole, to find it was her Pink Floyd top. It read in grungy blue, white, brown and gray _"Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon US Tour 1973" _

One of the many band T-shirts she had bought from Wal Mart.

Amber nodded and put it on, then slipped out of her black neon skull patterned pajama pants. She went back into the pile and searched for a pair of pants. Again, she pulled out another piece of clothing, this time a pair of blue jeans, inside out of course.

She pulled them right side in, and then stepped into them. Pretty much ready to go. All that was left was her makeup and shoes.

Amber ran into the bathroom, and rummaged through her Rolling Stones purse for her eyeliner and foundation. Everyone told her she looked better _without _all the makeup caked onto her eyes, but she refused to trust their opinion. She's seen pictures, and honestly prefers herself with her edgy look.

At least she didn't wear that neon pink eye shadow that she had bought from Hot Topic. What attracted her to it, and to keep applying it, was the skull and crossbones on the front of it. She couldn't resist skulls. Her most favorite accessory.

That had always annoyed her parents. She was always known as to dress immature for her age, but she didn't care.

Her friends had convinced her to stop wearing the hot pink eye shadow. That was good enough.

Sometimes she'd apply her eyeliner dark, sometimes she'd put it on lighter. Depended on her mood.

Most of the time, she'd swipe the black Wet N' Wild stick of eyeliner across the top eyelid, into a sharp point on the end of her eye, and only draw on the ledge of her bottom lid. Then she'd always apply her subtle gold eye shadow and black mascara.

Although, sometimes she would just go without makeup. That also depended on her mood. She'd get quite lethargic without taking her B vitamin in the morning, which caused her to blow off her makeup and just slip into a shirt and jeans, IF she needed to go out. Otherwise, she'd just stay in all day until she was up to doing something.

Amber (in her younger years) used to be known as the "gothic" kid in her group of friends. She always wore wristbands, black on top of black clothes, countless skull necklaces and of course, her _Devil _necklace that her friend Kimmy had sent her.

She still wore that necklace. Not all the time. Especially not recently… she wouldn't want to make Satan feel even MORE full of himself if he saw her wearing that. He probably already knew, but she'd rather not pursue wearing it, just incase.

Amber finished applying her makeup. She made sure everything was even, and fixed her hair.

_Perfect. _

She thought, smiling to her reflection.

Stuffing all her makeup back into her purse, she jumped into her worn out sneakers and headed for the car.

She unlocked it, and put the hardtop hood down. Today was much better than last night. The sun was out, but hid behind the trees that followed by her neighborhood. The sky was a deep eternal blue, and only a few clouds could be spotted across the current atmosphere.

Amber got into her red Mustang and started the engine.


	3. Apology

Aubrie stood on the porch, awaiting her sister's arrival. She scuffed her feet over the first step, kicking a stone onto the grass.

Amber pulled up, the radio blasting. She beeped the horn, and Aubrie ran down the grass to the car.

"Get in hobo!" Amber called over the music. Aubrie jumped in over the door and strapped herself in.

The song that played was "Gothic Girl" by The 69 Eyes. One of Amber's favorites from her CD "This is Gothic".

Once Aubrie was buckled in tight, Amber smiled and shifted her foot from the break to the gas, and put the petal to the metal. Causing the car to leave a foot long skid mark on the concrete beside the curb. She took the highway, the longest way to the mall. They still had plenty of time to shop before she met with Tom.

Amber turned down the music so she could talk with her sis. They hadn't hung out in over a week and needed to catch up.

"So, how's life little _cist_?" Amber joked. Aubrie rolled her eyes.

"Good. I met a guy yesterday."

Amber turned to take a quick glance at her. "A guy? As in a real life, human being, or just a dog?" She said sarcastically.

"Yes, a real life human being. His name is Josh and he's 17."

"A year older than you? What did mom say? No… what did DAD say?"

Aubrie didn't reply. She just looked ahead, at the oncoming road.

Amber's jaw dropped in a dramatic way. "They don't know?" She used her left hand to cover her mouth exaggerating the situation.

"No, they don't know." Aubrie said.

"Nice. What are you gonna do when they find you and a strange boy in the same bed together at 2:00 in the morning?" Amber giggled.

"Shut up!" Aubrie whacked Amber on the shoulder.

After some meaningless chatter about Aubrie's new boy toy, Josh, they had pulled into the Strickly mall parking lot, and into a parking spot, not too far from the entrance.

Amber turned off the engine, and they sat there for a few minutes before putting the top up and getting out.

As they made their way inside the food court, Amber pulled Aubrie aside, at the women's restroom doorway.

"Hey, do me a favor?" She asked.

"Sure, what?"

"Ok. This guy I haven't seen in _years _is going to be here today. I have to see him, alright? Around 5:00 o' clock." Amber started.

"Um, ok?" Aubrie cocked up an eyebrow.

"Thing is… he used to live next door to me back at my old place… and the Devil wants me to see him because of a deal they had. So you have to stay away alright? I don't want Tom knowing you, ok?"

"It's _Tom_?" Aubrie stared at Amber deep in thought.

"Yes… Tom. Ironically, yes, Tom _the Devil._" Amber mentioned the old name that she used to call Tom behind his back with her parents and grandparents. The irony was sickening.

"Ok. Sure…" Aubrie tried to pull away.

"Another thing… if you see _Lucy_, don't tell him I told you. He might get mad or something… him and his gay ass reasons." Amber explained before letting her sister go.

"Fine. Can we go now? I can hear the stores calling my name…" Aubrie laughed.

They set off toward the escalators. Amber headed for _Journey's. _Her favorite place to get shoes. They always had the best selections.

Aubrie headed for Hollister. They split up, and met back in the food court around 4:30.

"Shit it's almost time." Amber suddenly had a surge of butterflies in her stomach. She was nervous as hell. God only knows why he wanted to see her… Satan only knows too. Why the hell didn't he tell her why he wanted to see her?

Amber and Aubrie sat at one of the tables, and sipped at their drinks they had ordered beforehand.

"Ok, I have to go. I'll call you and meet you at the car, K?" Amber said, getting up and tossing her empty Styrofoam cup out.

Aubrie nodded and still sat, drinking her Coke.

Amber left her bags with her sister and went down the escalator, only to find the Devil on the one right next to her, going down as well.

She sighed in disgust. "Oh goody."

They met at the first floor.

"So where is he?" She asked, folding her arms.

The Devil pointed to his left, toward two nearby stores.

"You'll _accidentally _bump into him between FYE and Game Stop." He told her.

Amber nodded and sighed. She looked at her watch and it read "5:05"

"Alright. Hey, why does he want to see me anyway?" She asked, tightening her arms in their folded position.

"You'll see." The Devil smiled, and walked away, stopping at a snack stand for a Churro before disappearing altogether.

Amber let out a heavy, elongated sigh and then made her way towards FYE and Game Stop.

Before she knew it, she had, without actually knowing it, bumped into someone. He was taller than her by about 6 inches and very skinny. He had dirty blond hair, that only covered the tops of his ears, and wore nothing but your everyday, casual plain T-shirt and jeans.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Amber avoided eye contact, but he caught hers before she could turn away.

"_Amber?_" He said, studying her face.

_She's older, but it's definitely her. _

Tom thought to himself as he traced his brown eyes over her.

"Tom? Is that you? Oh my God, hi!" She wasn't even acting. It's as if she hadn't planned on meeting him at all. As if it just happened out of the blue.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in _ages._" She added, taking mental notes of his current features.

_Dirty blond hair, tall, skinny, casual clothes… it's as if he hasn't changed at all. _

"I'm great, h-how are you?" Tom stuttered slightly, obviously nervous.

"I'm good. Wow, you haven't changed at all since I've last seen you. You look great."

"So do you."

Amber smiled, looking around becoming nervous.

_Ok, he saw me. Now I can go._

"Well, I guess I'll see you around." She nodded, and attempted to walk away.

"Hey, wait up." Tom said, causing her to turn around.

"Amber…" He started.

Amber looked at him, focusing her eyes on him, her facial expression very serious now, as well as his.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" She laughed.

"Well, the way I treated you when we were kids. I was mean and bullied you. I shouldn't have, and I just wanted to tell you that I was wrong. I'm sorry."

He finished, and smiled pleasantly at her before turning and walking away.

Amber stood in shock, her arms dropped to her sides and her jaw fell along with them. She watched as her once childhood friend to enemy leave the mall. He was no longer considered a threat. He was no longer an "enemy" in her book… although she didn't want to admit her appreciation for that apology.

Throughout her childhood life, she had been picked on by mostly everyone. Up until she was 14.

Throughout the years, she had never received an apology. This was the first, and she didn't want to accept it, even though deep inside, she felt touched.

_He sold his soul, just to apologize to me? To admit he was wrong?_

"Isn't that sweet?" The Devil said, from behind her.

He held two churros in his hand, Amber noticed as she turned to face him.

He handed her one.

"Who the hell does he think he is? Apologizing to me? As if I needed it? That frigging faggot." Amber took a bite out of the churro and chewed it fast.

"You know, he's not really going to be in a car accident on Tuesday." The Devil said, also taking a bite out of his churro.

"What do you mean?"

"He's committing suicide. That's why he wanted to see you. He's apologizing to everyone he's ever hurt in life, and on Tuesday night, he's going to hang himself, leaving behind a suicide note that just says 'I'm sorry.' sad, huh?"

"What a fucking drama queen." Amber rolled her eyes and took another bite out of the churro.

The Devil smiled and laughed.

"Wow, you're cold."

"Really? I hadn't noticed. Once you get to know me though… I can be a bitch."

She smiled and advanced to the exit, eating the rest of her churro on the way.

"Thanks for the churro, by the way." She said, tossing the wrapper away on her way out.


End file.
